Interview: Ghostface Killah

In the flash-in-the-pan world of modern music, it's unheard of for an artist to hit their creative and commercial peak 15 years after their first entrance into the public eye. But that is exactly what Ghostface Killah has achieved with his latest album Fishscale. Unanimously praised as an instant classic while solidifying a No. 4 spot on the Billboard charts in its first week, Ghostface has clearly been annointed, by the public and the press, as the new king of the streets.

quick bio

Dennis Coles (aka Ghostface Killah) was born May 9, 1970, and solidifed his place in musical history early on by founding the legendary NY rap crew Wu-Tang Clan. Like his fellow Clan members, Ghostface has focused the majority of his efforts on solo projects in recent years, delivering milestone albums such as Supreme Clientele,Bulletproof Wallets,The Pretty Toney Album, and, most recently, Fishscale — a record that has already been marked as the best rap album of 2006.

Q-1: In comparison to the release of your previous albums, how would you describe your mindset as Fishscale is about to drop?

The last couple of albums really had no buzz on them — on me or my album. You know, based on what I went through at Sony [Ghostface's previous record label] and what I just went through at Def Jam the first year in there [with the transition going on] this one seems like there is a lot more promotion: On the Internet, what I'm doing out there on the streets as far as shows and all that.

So this one... I felt it more, you know what I mean? Regardless of how the album comes out or how it turned out to be. But I just felt like a little bit more is going on; whether it's promotion, marketing or people being alert.

Q-2: Is there one rhyme on the album that sums up your mindset or the message you want to get across on Fishscale?

I don't know... cause you got "Shakey Dog" at the beginning, you got "Strap," you got "Underwater," even the "Momma" song. I'm not too sure, cause everything has a different edge, you know what I mean.

Sometimes I like how I describe the first song, "Shakey Dog," because it's like a movie to me. I rhyme for three minutes straight. No hooks, no nothing — it's just a whole movie. And I know that people can't catch it in one take. They would have to let it digest on them cause it's too much.

Besides being one of the keynote MCs in the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface was the man who brought all rappers together and worked as the executive producer on the groups' legendary first album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

Q-3: You're one of the more established rappers on the new Def Jam lineup; how would you describe your role in the remodeled organization?

I'm just Ghostface Killah. Write my checks to Dennis Coles. That's it, you know what I mean? I can only do me man; I can't say "I'm this..." or "I'm this great...." This is what it is right now and I still got more work to put in. This is the beginning for me.

This is like one of my first albums right now. Within the next couple of years — three, four, five more years — the world is going to get to see the real Ghostface Killah.

Q-4: How are you going to gauge success? How are you going to determine that your career is headed in the right direction?

You gotta stay with the youth. The youth keep you young. That's one of my techniques and my sciences, and I take what they learn and what they're doing and I try to apply some of it to myself. I mean, take what I have that's instilled in me and apply it to what I'm picking up and what I'm learning with.

And there's going to be a time when I come out with more reality — more stories. Cause you have to change, you can't stay on the same level with drugs, being 40 years old and talking about sticking people up.

Ghostface talks about working sober, who he would give up an award for and what he thinks life is really all about...